This is an accepted version of this page Kanwar Pal Singh Gill (29 December 1934 – 26 May 2017) was an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

[2][3] While many see him as a hero, there are accusations that he and the forces under his command were responsible for "multiple cases of human rights violation", "in the name of" stamping out terrorism.

[9][10][11] He was educated at St. Edward's School, Shimla and received a degree in English literature from Panjab University[12] Gill joined the Indian Police Service in 1958 and was assigned to the Assam and Meghalaya states in northeast India.

Vinayak Ganapathy, writing for rediff.com in 2003, noted Gill's no-nonsense style of functioning, which earned him the sobriquet 'supercop' in Punjab, made him "unpopular" among influential sections of the population in Assam and called him "a controversial figure".

[14] While Director General of police in Assam, Gill was charged with kicking a demonstrator to death, but was acquitted by the Delhi High Court.

[22] Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that from the 1980s Sikh separatists were guilty of targeted assassinations and attacks upon Hindu minorities in the Punjab state.

[23][24] HRW report in 1991 described the security forces using "increasingly brutal methods to stem the militant movement, resulting in widespread human rights violations."

In an article in India Today on 15 October 1992 it was written that the rush of claiming cash rewards is turning police into mercenaries.

[5] Human Rights Watch reported that an 11 September 1995 writ of habeas corpus from the Supreme Court was presented to Gill,[33] and officials denied that police had detained him.

According to neighbours, Punjab police commandos broke into the apartment early that morning, shot Singh and his wife in their bedroom, then fled with the bodies.

[8] In 1999, Delhi Police arrested Richhpal Singh, who was allegedly a Babbar Khalsa suicide bomber on a mission to assassinate Gill.

[38] In an interview after this incident, Gill claimed that he had been a target of four or five such assassination attempts by Babbar Khalsa and other Sikh militant groups.

[39] In 2000 the government of Sri Lanka sought his expertise as an anti-terrorism expert to help them draw a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam[40] He was approached by Lakshman Kadirgamar who was the foreign minister of Sri Lanka[41] After the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam the similarity in the tactics used by Sri Lanka with the tactics used by Gill in Punjab was noted in an article published in India Today[42] Gill was appointed security adviser to the state of Gujarat after 2002 Gujarat violence.

[4] Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi, commenting on his appointment, stated, "It is good to have an experienced person such as Gill as my security advisor.

[14] Martin Regg Cohn argued in a Toronto Star editorial that policies followed in Punjab by Gill should be utilised in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

[51] An academic paper, The Gill Doctrine: A Model for 21st Century Counterterrorism?, analysing his tactics in the successful fight against the Punjab insurgency was presented at the annual meeting of American Political Science Association on 30 August 2007.

[61] Less than a month after the qualification failure, in April 2008, Aaj Tak Television reported that it had caught the Secretary-General of the IHF taking a bribe on camera to choose a player in a sting.

[67] A female Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer named Rupan Deol Bajaj filed a complaint against Gill in 1988 for "patting" her "posterior" at a party where he was alleged to be drunk.

[70][71][72][73][74] Gill received a Padma Shri award, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1989 for his work in the civil service.

[78] The book received positive reception in the Press and was deemed to provide a great degree of authenticity to the narrative of the events.